


one-one-thousand

by HardNoctLife



Series: FFXV Brotherly Love Week 2020 [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, One Shot, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25059880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardNoctLife/pseuds/HardNoctLife
Summary: After the events of Zegnautus Keep, Prompto has a nightmare. Luckily, Noctis is there to comfort him.For FFXV Brotherly Love Week Day 4: Comfort After a Nightmare
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Series: FFXV Brotherly Love Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808365
Comments: 12
Kudos: 95
Collections: FFXV Brotherly Love Week





	one-one-thousand

Noctis was the heaviest sleeper he knew, but within the barracks of Zegnautus Keep, even the smallest creak or tap seemed to pull him out of his dreams. He tossed and turned and counted his thoughts the way others counted sheep.

_You almost killed your best friend._

_One-one-thousand…_

_He could have died before you rescued him._

_Two-one-thousand…_

_Are you really worthy of being king?_

Apparently, he wasn’t going to be able to sleep anytime soon. 

It was the sudden high-pitched scream that made the blood in Noctis’s veins turn to ice, chasing the grogginess from his eyes as he bolted upright. It was close, only one door away, and frighteningly familiar.

“Prompto?” Noctis croaked. He was on his feet and running in seconds, skidding as he flew out of the room in panic. “Prompto?!” he shouted. 

Ignis and Gladio were already in the hall, weapons in hand, and they nearly trampled him as they all rushed to the room where Prompto was sleeping.

“No, no, _no_!” came Prompto’s blubbering cry, and Noctis fully expected to see a daemon in the room when he flipped the light on. 

But there were no goblins or MTs. The only thing remotely threatening was revealed to be a chair that had somehow tipped over.

Prompto was sitting ramrod straight with all of his blankets pulled around him, face white like he had seen a ghost. 

“What is it? What happened?” Noctis demanded as he bolted forward. He could feel Ignis and Gladio hesitate behind him, lingering in the doorway.

It was as if Prompto hadn’t heard him, eyes wide and wild. He didn’t see Noctis even though he was right in front of him--not really. His mind was far away, still apparently lost in whatever nightmare he had woken up from.

“Prompto!” Noctis snapped. He instantly felt guilty when he saw Prompto flinch, and he glanced up as if noticing Noctis for the first time. 

“...N-Noct?” 

“Yeah, buddy, it’s me. What’s wrong? Are you okay?” 

Prompto’s gaze panned slowly over to Ignis and Gladio, then back to Noctis, his dazed expression lifting like a fog. 

“We will be in our rooms should you need us,” Noctis heard Ignis say. Their footsteps receded as Noctis sank down on the bed, gripping Prompto by his shoulders. 

“Bad dream?” he asked. All the roughness had gone out of his voice now that he knew Prompto wasn’t in any real danger.

Noctis could imagine what his nightmare had been about, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask for details. 

Prompto bit his lip and looked away, too embarrassed to answer the question, not that he needed to. Finally, he nodded, mumbling a little.

“...yeah. Yeah, I’m...sorry if I woke you up.”

There was none of his usual attempt at levity, just a pervasive heaviness, an exhaustion that seemed to seep into his bones as he brushed trembling fingers through his messy hair. The idle movement showed off the fading bruises along his jaw and temple, signs of the abuse he had sustained during his imprisonment.

Noctis’s jaw clenched when he saw them, a mix of regret and fury like smoke in his lungs, choking him. Without thinking, he reached his hands up to trace over the pale yellow and purple splotches, and he watched Prompto go still. 

“I’m sorry,” Noctis said, low and tight. That smoky feeling in his lungs had now reached his eyes, tears stinging at their corners.

“Ha.” It was the most pathetic attempt at a laugh Noctis had ever heard. “No worries, dude. I should be apologizing to _you_.” 

“No, I mean it,” Nocits said.

It was important to him that Prompto understood. He hadn’t had the right words earlier when they first rescued him, but the last couple of hours had given Noctis the opportunity to gather his thoughts into some semblance of organization. 

“Prompto, I’m sorry for everything. I should have seen through Ardyn’s tricks. I should have got here sooner.” He ducked his head, trying to hide the tears that were now freely streaming down his face. “You shouldn’t have had to suffer alone. It’s _my_ fault--” 

“Noct.” 

The sound of a true laugh made Noctis look up. Seeing Prompto smile was almost painful, but like a train wreck, he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“We’ve already gone over this. You saved me. Everything else? Doesn’t matter.” 

“But Prompto--”

“Nope.” Prompto lifted his hand, effectively stopping Noctis in his tracks. “No way, dude. We’re not doing this.”

Noctis sighed in exasperation, roughly wiping his damp face with his forearm. “Yeah. Okay, fine. If you say so.” 

“I do say so.” 

The Prompto he knew was back, and Noctis peeked up from beneath his wet eyelashes to catch a glimpse of him. His freckled cheeks were now flushed with color and his blue eyes squinted as he smiled.

“Well. I guess...I should leave so you can get some sleep.” It was a question, phrased as a statement. Noctis wasn’t sure what Prompto wanted, but he knew that he wasn’t overly eager to go lay in bed and be alone with his thoughts again.

Neither of them moved or spoke for a long moment. Finally, Prompto bumped his knee against Noctis’s.

“Y’know, this place is super creepy at night.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Noctis sympathized. 

“Right? I guess, what I’m saying is, if you wanted, you could crash in here.” 

Noctis arched an eyebrow playfully, trying not to laugh when Prompto blushed. “Alright...I’m down.” 

“Wait, really?” Prompto’s surprise was comical, mouth rounding into a perfect ‘o’ as he blinked. 

“Yeah, why not? I can stay up until you fall asleep.” 

Not waiting for Prompto’s input, Noctis shimmied onto his back, pushing Prompto over with his hip. The bed was only a twin, but they weren’t bothered by the small space. They’d slept beside each other in tighter ones before. Following suit, Prompto flopped onto his side and curled, head rolling naturally onto Noctis’s shoulder. 

Instantly, Noctis felt his body relax, the tension it had been holding since their arrival at Zegnautus Keep bleeding out of him. Something about this felt right.

This was where he belonged--with Prompto at his side. He should have known.

“Noct?” Prompto murmured sleepily a few minutes later. His eyes were shut, and Noctis was busy counting the number of freckles on his nose and the rise and fall of his chest, head nodding from the effort it took to stay awake. 

“Mm?”

“...thanks.”

_One-one-thousand…_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks MysteriousBean for being my ongoing inspiration for these prompts! Follow her on Twitter @MysteriousBean5  
> I'm on Twitter as @HardNoctLife and Tumblr as hard-noct-life.


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